Red Squig Racinghttp://www.redsquigracing.com/
Collecting, painting, and playing Orks in 40k. Mostly Speed Freeks.enFri, 02 Sep 2016 11:12:38 +0100http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssDotclearWarhammer Worldhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/11/28/Warhammer-World
urn:md5:7268066513e68fd1f7f4076ff2f1e306Sat, 28 Nov 2015 17:16:00 +0000Da BossForge WorldOrks <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/WarhammerWorldRhino2.jpg"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.WarhammerWorldRhino2_s.jpg" alt="WarhammerWorldRhino2.jpg" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="WarhammerWorldRhino2.jpg, Nov 2015" /></a>Well, I'm finally writing up our
trip to Warhammer World. We arrived on Saturday morning, a bit ahead of the
<a href="http://www.theoverlords.co.uk">friends</a> we were meeting, which gave
us time for a bit of a look around. We took a wander around the main gaming
hall, which was pretty busy. There was the odd table here and there that wasn't
in use, but most were already taken. We spent some time tempting ourselves with
the goodies in the GW, Forge World, and Black Library shops, particularly Forge
World as they have lots of models on display in cabinets that we can only
usually see on the website. I've found that seeing a model in person often has
more impact than seeing an image.</p>
<p>We went into Bugman's to get lunch. Unfortunately a large group of French
gamers had just ordered lunch, meaning we had a 45 minute wait to get food.
Time was getting on once we'd eaten, so we went back to the Forge World store
to put our orders in. If you order before 2, anything they don't have in the
store will be brought up from the warehouse by the end of the day. I picked up
<a href="http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Ork-Nob-Warbikes">Nob Warbikers</a>,
<a href="http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Ork-Trukk-with-Enclosed-Cab">the
Trukk with enclosed cab</a>, <a href="http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Ork-Halftrakk">the Halftrakk</a>, and
<a href="http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Imperial-Armour-Volumes-Nine-and-Ten-The-Badab-War">
the Badab War books</a>. They only had the Nob bikers in the store then and
there, so I had to wait a few hours for the other bits to brought up. If you
want to see jealousy on your friends' faces, get Forge World to bring you a box
of stuff instead of the plastic bags most of their stuff comes in <img src="/themes/default/smilies/smile.png" alt=":)" class="smiley" /></p>
<p>We also picked up a few books in the Black Library store, including the
Warhammer World exclusive Horus Heresy book Meduson. It's a collection of short
stories focussing on the Shattered Legions. I enjoyed reading it, it was good
to see the Iron Hands take centre-stage, as they've been quite neglected in the
series so far. It was also quite lucky timing, as the weekend after we were
there, Warhammer World had the Forge World open day where they announced the
Shattered Legions would be in the next Horus Heresy book, Retribution.</p>
<p>After we'd spent plenty of cash, it was time to do battle. We'd booked two
tables for the afternoon, but neither we nor the staff could find the tables
with the appropriate number. In the end the staff simply picked two next to
each other that were free and declared them ours for the session. <a href="https://lostonfenris.wordpress.com/">LoF</a> and I played doubles with two
friends on one table, while the other two people with us had larger armies with
them so played a singles match on the other table. With one thing and another
we didn't get that much gaming done (it turns out if you go to Warhammer World
with podcasters, their adoring fans keep wanting to talk to them :P). We had
some good moments in the game though, with an Avenger Strike Fighter roaring on
to the table and hammering a unit of Eldar Jetbikers, only to be blown out of
the sky when the Crimson Hunter came in from the other side. The proudest
moment from my Orks was the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/11/29/Return-of-the-Mek">Mek</a>,
after having the unit he was accompanying shot out from under him, going to
intercept an outflanking sentinel all on his own and one-shotting it with his
Kustom Mega-Slugga. We played until they closed, then decamped to the pub.
<a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/WarhammerWorldBattle.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.WarhammerWorldBattle_m.jpg" alt="WarhammerWorldBattle.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0 auto;" title="WarhammerWorldBattle.JPG, Nov 2015" /></a></p>
<p>We decided not to play on Sunday and spent the morning going round the Hall
of Miniatures. This was definitely worth the price of admission, it took us
about two-and-a-half hours to get through it all. They had models from all the
way back in the beginning of the company to the newest stuff. The dioramas
they've built are amazing, I'm confident if I went back and looked at them
again I'd pick up lots of details I missed the first time. Once we finished
seeing the exhibit, it was back to Bugman's for lunch. After discussion with
the group we came to the conclusion that it's probably worth visiting about
once a year. That leaves enough time between visits for the tables and exhibits
to get updated and for wallets to recover. Before we left, I gave in to
temptation and bought the <a href="http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/The-Horus-Heresy-Mechanicum-Taghmata-Army-List">
Mechanicum</a> Horus Heresy book. I really like the look of some of the
Mechanicum models, although others I'm not so keen on. That's why I held off
buying the book until the end of the trip, but eventually I decided if I bought
it I'd at least be able to see if I could build an army the way I'd like so I
went ahead and spent the cash.</p>
<p>All in all, we had a really good trip and we'll definitely go back.
Hopefully next time we'll make a bit more time to play and have a bit less of a
last minute rush to get everything painted, but other than that I don't think
we'll do much differently.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/11/28/Warhammer-World#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/11/28/Warhammer-World#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/837462Temptation and Sublimationhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/18/Temptation-and-Sublimation
urn:md5:95c147ed5871422f0be104d79e05bacbSun, 18 Oct 2015 15:08:00 +0100Da BossHorus HeresyInfinity <p>In the last several months, I've been looking more and more at playing Horus
Heresy. Several friends of mine have gotten into it and have said how much they
enjoy it. Whenever I start to get tempted by a game like this, I start looking
around for more information on it, ostensibly so I can make an informed
decision, but with the handy side-effect of scratching the itch a bit without
requiring a lot of expenditure. The unfortunate consequence of this approach is
I end up thinking more about the game, which can then spiral into buying a
bunch of stuff. That's not always the case, reading up on Warmahordes put me
off that system, but it does often happen.</p>
<p>There are a couple of problems with diving head first into the Heresy for me
though. The first is that I naturally baulk at spending the kind of money that
is required for a full Forge World army. I know that I could use cheaper models
from GW or a 3rd party company, but I'm not keen on that sort of compromise.
Part of my reasoning when getting back into the hobby was that I could now
afford to buy the things I wanted and I don't have to compromise as I did when
I was a kid. That does kind of contradict what I said about not wanting to
spend money, but the way I compensate for being able to buy pretty much
whatever I want is to try to focus on only one thing at a time. When I was a
kid I would have happily collected twenty armies at once but I couldn't afford
it. Now I'm an adult and I can afford it, I (in theory) possess the willpower
to pick one army and stick with it, thereby avoiding spending huge sums of
money on things that are only going to sit unused in boxes for the rest of
time. This brings me to the second problem with starting Horus Heresy, which is
that I still have plenty of Orks to build and paint. I should be concentrating
on them, not buying an expensive new army.</p>
<p>I decided that I would try to direct my attention elsewhere, to something
that would be less expensive and require less time than a full Heresy army. I
looked around at various other systems (which is why I was looking at
Warmahordes), and I got caught on <a href="http://infinitythegame.com/">Infinity</a>. I've looked at it before and
thought it looked cool, this time I dug a bit deeper into the game. I like that
they make the rules and unit profiles available for free online, I also like
the idea that even when it's not your turn you get to play due to automatic
reaction orders. The hard sci-fi/anime setting really works for me as well, and
the low model count is a major plus given the speed of my painting and the fact
that I'm already committed to an Ork army that naturally comes with a high
number of minis. Personally, I like to read about the background before I get
into a game, particularly when it comes to choosing an army to play. In that
sense, the set-up that Corvus Belli have for Infinity of giving the rules away
but putting the background in the book you have to pay for worked really well
(for them), as I had enough free reading material to get me interested, but I
had a clear reason and desire to buy the book. I picked up the rulebook and
core book set and spent a few pleasant evenings reading through it. I'm
intending to play <a href="http://infinitythegame.com/faction_ALE.php">Aleph</a>, but I haven't bought
anything beyond the main books yet. While I was in the prevaricating phase of
“I really like the look of this” but “should I really start a new game and army
and everything that goes with it”, Corvus Belli announced the new version of
the Human Sphere book would be out in December. That will have a bunch more
background information, particularly on Aleph, so I was able to put any further
purchases off until then (although I do keep looking at the <a href="http://store.infinitythegame.com/articulo.php?f=1&amp;s=120&amp;o=3&amp;id=2344">
Operation Icestorm box</a>).</p>
<p>All of which satisfied my urge to start buying a new army, with a minimum of
expenditure. I was very pleased with how the whole thing had worked out.
Unfortunately, then a friend of mine decided to sell up his Horus Heresy stuff,
so I ended up buying his <a href="http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/The-Horus-Heresy-Legiones-Astartes-Crusade-Army-List">
Crusade Army list</a> and <a href="http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/The-Horus-Heresy-Legiones-Astartes-Isstvan-Campaign-Legions">
Isstvan campaign legions</a> red books. It was really a moral decision, I was
helping by buying them and my desires didn't come into it one way or the other
<img src="/themes/default/smilies/wink.png" alt=";)" class="smiley" /> <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/HH_Infinity_Books.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.HH_Infinity_Books_m.jpg" alt="Horus Heresy and Infinity books" style="display:block; margin:0 auto;" title="Horus Heresy and Infinity books, Oct 2015" /></a></p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/18/Temptation-and-Sublimation#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/18/Temptation-and-Sublimation#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/834116The other painted modelhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/13/The-other-painted-model
urn:md5:9a103056b64b9f7451d0de8589c409e4Tue, 13 Oct 2015 22:07:00 +0100Da Boss <p>If you've been paying really close attention, it might have occurred to you
that the list of models I painted for the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/09/The-Challenge">Warhammer World
challenge</a>, along with what I had painted beforehand, did not add up to 1000
points. Way back when I started this blog, I wrote about the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/07/08/The-Painted-Man">test model</a>
I'd painted for the army and <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/07/09/The-Unpainted-Horde">the
unpainted models</a>. There was one model that went unmentioned, which accounts
for the missing points.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/WarhammerWorldDakkajet.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.WarhammerWorldDakkajet_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title=" , Oct 2015" /></a>I was away for a
few days when I managed to secure NewJob™, and as a present (and quiet hint to
get on with painting my Orks) <a href="https://lostonfenris.wordpress.com/">LoF</a> bought, assembled and painted a
Dakkajet. She maintains that it's not quite finished, but I think it's pretty
impressive for the work of just a couple of days. Obviously, it wasn't included
in the unpainted models, but I couldn't claim it as my own work either. I've
had a couple of opportunities to use it in games and the amount of fire-power
it carries really packs a punch.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/13/The-other-painted-model#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/13/The-other-painted-model#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/833758Challenge overhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/12/Challenge-over
urn:md5:06b91b2cb29b0c15dc18d1b07d5ab594Mon, 12 Oct 2015 19:47:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/WarhammerWorldBikers.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.WarhammerWorldBikers_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" title=" , Oct 2015" /></a>My time ran out
for <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/09/The-Challenge">the
Challenge</a> on Friday. I'll do a write-up of the trip in another post, for
now I just want to talk about the painting. As I <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/09/28/Nobz-Trukk">expected</a>, I was
nowhere near finishing both the Lootas and the Warbikers in time. I did manage
to get both squads done to a basic tabletop standard, there's the odd spot
where the undercoat is still showing, but nothing excessive. Both squads have
several different colours on them, and they clearly fit in with the rest of the
army, even if the lack of layers and highlights means they don't 'pop' as well
as the other models.</p>
<p>Admitting I wasn't going to get everything finished had an odd dual effect.
On the one hand, I didn't drive myself mad trying to paint models far faster
than I could manage. On the other, once I'd realised I wasn't going to get them
done I lost a lot of motivation to keep working on them. There were a few days
last week when I only did a bit of painting and I have to admit that as it got
to Thursday and Friday I was getting a bit sick of the whole thing. I did have
a back-up plan to paint a Big Mek with Kustom Force Field and Nob with Waaagh
Banner instead of the Lootas and Warbikers if I ran low on time, as they'd be
roughly the same points for far fewer models. I was cursing myself for not
choosing that option when I was still fighting to get the base layers done on
Friday evening.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/WarhammerWorldLootas.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.WarhammerWorldLootas_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title=" , Oct 2015" /></a>From here, I'm
going to finish off the two squads, although I'll do them one at a time as I
have been previously. I'm having a break first though, and I imagine I'll be
working on them a bit more slowly than I have been recently. Once I've managed
that, I'll finally have 1000 points of fully painted Orks. I'm hoping that I
can get through the second 1000 points a bit faster than the first.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/12/Challenge-over#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/10/12/Challenge-over#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/833639Nobz Trukkhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/09/28/Nobz-Trukk
urn:md5:f5a8f1b2f26035a38cf6fbd42a2971ffMon, 28 Sep 2015 20:15:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/NobzTrukk.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.NobzTrukk_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" title=" , Sep 2015" /></a>I've
finally finished the Trukk for the Nobz squad. It ended up taking me two weeks,
which is a fair bit longer than the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/30/Third-Trukk">last one</a>. I
didn't find this one as heavy going as the last, but I clearly wasn't working
on it quite as hard.</p>
<p>I applied the base layers of blue on the bodywork and Leadbelcher on the
chassis and engine using an airbrush and the new GW airbrush paints. This saved
me a fair bit of time, and meant I got good coverage with the blue in only one
coat. It's the first time I've used an airbrush, so there was a bit of a
learning curve. Once I got it figured out though, it worked well. I also
experimented a little bit with a weathering powder around the exhaust outlets
and gun barrel. I was very light with it, but the effect worked reasonably
well.</p>
<p>I'm running out of time to get everything painted for <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/09/The-Challenge">the
challenge</a>, and I've got Warbiker and Loota squads still to do. I'm going to
paint both squads at the same time with the goal of getting them at least to
tabletop standard before going to Nottingham. It's not ideal, but I have to be
realistic about how fast I paint and accept that I am unlikely to get them
finished in time. If I focus on one squad I could probably get that done, but
it would come at the risk of not even starting on the other.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/09/28/Nobz-Trukk#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/09/28/Nobz-Trukk#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/832193Nobz Squadhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/09/13/Nobz-Squad
urn:md5:7b8b06e574916b1c7754ad931b691441Sun, 13 Sep 2015 17:25:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Nobz_Squad.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Nobz_Squad_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title=" , Sep 2015" /></a>After
two weeks of heavy painting, I've finished the squad of Nobz. Once again I got
over-enthusiastic and I've spent the last week telling myself they'll be done
in the next couple of days. I would like to say that I'm really pleased with
how they came out, but I ended up having a bit of an issue in the final stages
that took the shine off them for me.</p>
<p>When I was assembling the squad for undercoating, I stuck the arms and
weapon on to one of the models. Once I'd done that, I looked at it and realised
it was going to make it very difficult to paint the part of the torso behind
the weapon. All the Nobz I've painted up to this point have had a power klaw
and a slugga so they haven't had this problem, but this squad is armed with big
choppas and kombi-skorchas, which are wielded two-handed. I left the arms off
the other four models, so that I could paint their torsos properly. I did all
the painting, carefully keeping the various arms with the appropriate models,
and I was really pleased with how they had come out. Once I'd finished I went
to glue the arms to the models. I could only get the arms to fit properly on
one of the four models, and in the process I managed to spread glue around the
join (and in one case across the figure's shoulders), ruining the paint job in
the process. After all the hard work I'd put in, I was quite upset at this
point. In the end I had to fit the arms on as best I could, which for one of
them meant prising the model's head off. After that I filled the various gaps
with greenstuff and did some quick repair work on the paint. The overall look
of the squad is quite good, but there are some nasty flaws if you know where to
look (which of course I do so that's all I can see).</p>
<p>I tried a couple of new methods with the painting on these models. I added a
green glaze to the skin once all the highlighting was done, and I like the
effect it has given me. The skin is just slightly darker than it was, and the
highlights are not quite as harsh. The material wrapped around the weapon hafts
has been painted yellow, where previously I would have used brown. As I was
working on the squad I realised I didn't have much yellow on them, so I decided
to put some on the weapons. I wanted it to look dirtier than the yellow I
usually use, to show that the weapon hafts are regularly handled and not
regularly cleaned. I gave them one base coat of Averland Sunset, where I
usually use two, and then a wash with Agrax Earthshade and highlight with Yriel
Yellow. I like how it has worked, it's very much what I was aiming for.</p>
<p>Next I'm going to do the Trukk for this squad. I was considering putting it
off after doing the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/30/Third-Trukk">last one</a>, but
now I think I'd rather have the squad and transport complete before I move on
to the next unit.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/09/13/Nobz-Squad#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/09/13/Nobz-Squad#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/830822Third Trukkhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/30/Third-Trukk
urn:md5:5996c7598369b304c8e4774721062817Sun, 30 Aug 2015 13:34:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Squad3_Trukk.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Squad3_Trukk_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" title=" , Aug 2015" /></a>I
finished the Trukk for the third squad last night. As I predicted, there was no
way I was going to get the whole thing done last weekend. I was fighting for
motivation to get through this model, it became something of a slog. I did
manage to keep going though, and it has come up well in the end. Now that the
third squad has their transport, I can field a rather small but fully mounted
Ork Horde detachment.</p>
<p>It took over a week to get the whole model done, which was longer than I
wanted and means I need to get a move on with the rest of the painting. Next on
the list is a squad of five Nobz. Hopefully batch painting will mean that I can
get them done rather faster than the one week per model rate I managed when
painting the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/21/Nob-for-Squad-Three">Nob for
Squad Three</a>. After the Nobz, I had intended to paint another Trukk so
they'd have a transport as well. Given how much of a fight the one I've just
finished (especially for only 30 points worth of model), I'm seriously
considering putting it off until I've done some other models first. I'll see
how I feel once the Nobz are finished.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/30/Third-Trukk#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/30/Third-Trukk#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/829585Nob for Squad Threehttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/21/Nob-for-Squad-Three
urn:md5:b5f3527a68e0855b9e52e681844270baFri, 21 Aug 2015 17:57:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Squad3_Nob.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Squad3_Nob_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title=" , Aug 2015" /></a>After
several days of good hobby progress, I've finished the Nob for the third squad
of Boyz. He's come up well, and I was pleased that I didn't slack off or lose
momentum. I did however pay something of a price for all this painting, by the
time I finished the model last night one of the muscles in my back was killing
me. I think I've been hunching forward as I work on the model and because I was
sat in the same position for a long time and several days in a row something
was bound to complain eventually. I'm going to have to work on my posture while
I paint, as I can't really afford to slack off the pace to get everything
painted in time for October.</p>
<p>Next up is the Trukk for the third Boyz squad. I'm hoping to make a lot of
progress over the weekend, provided I don't cripple myself in the process. I'd
like to say I'll get the whole thing done, but I think that may be a bit overly
optimistic.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/21/Nob-for-Squad-Three#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/21/Nob-for-Squad-Three#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/828997Squad 3http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/15/Squad-3
urn:md5:66d5ccc5df5a7105ebbd7b65ef6f9ed5Sat, 15 Aug 2015 13:11:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Squad_3.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Squad_3_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" title=" , Aug 2015" /></a>After a
heavy week of painting (by my standards at least), I've finished the third
squad of Boyz. It started well, I was making progress and feeling good about
the whole thing. Then I started to get a bit carried away and thought to myself
“If I just make a big push tomorrow I can have them finished”. I ended up
telling myself that every day from Monday through until Thursday, and I finally
got them completed on Friday.</p>
<p>The painting has come out well, they're an improvement over the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/10/26/Second-squad-complete">second
squad</a>, although not as much of an improvement over them as they were over
the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/08/07/Squad-complete">first squad</a>.
I used a layer of Evil Sunz Scarlet on top of the Mephiston Red to give the
brighter red colour. That added a fair bit of extra work to painting the whole
squad. I also used more Underhive Ash than I have previously as a final
highlight on the skin. The effect worked well, I'll continue to add that,
although that will also mean more work to get models done. I really hope that
somewhere along the line improving my painting includes reducing the amount of
time each bit takes. I have a nasty feeling that is the kind of skill that only
comes with lots of hard work and practice though.</p>
<p>Next up is a Nob to go with this squad. It's only one model, so I'm going to
try to get it knocked out quite quickly. <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/08/27/All-the-small-things">Looking</a>
<a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/01/27/Nob-finished">back</a>,
it seems I can get them done without taking too long, provided I sit down and
get on with it.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/15/Squad-3#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/15/Squad-3#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/828468Imperial Armour 8: Raid on Kastorel-Novemhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/10/Imperial-Armour-8%3A-Raid-on-Kastorel-Novem
urn:md5:ac43a56780bd25f0b6cfd04ef8ddcc5aMon, 10 Aug 2015 23:07:00 +0100Da BossForge WorldOrksReview <p>Back around the beginning of the year, Forge World put up a notice that they
were running low on copies of IA8. Given that it's the book with the Ork units
in, I figured I would grab a copy before they all vanished. Tight-fisted as I
am though, I thought I'd take a look elsewhere to see if I could pick it up
cheaper than direct from Forge World. It didn't take too long to find a seller
on Amazon with an “as new” copy that was only £27.50. Now that I finally get
round to writing about the book, it's no longer available on the Forge World
site, but can still be found on Amazon for £30. Given that many of the other
Imperial Armour books have gone on to a second edition, I expect there will be
a new version available from Forge World at some point, but I suspect that they
may well be focussing on the Horus Heresy for the near future.</p>
<p>The book itself weighs in at 226 pages and comes with a double sided poster
with a Mek Boss on one side and an assortment of Ork units on the other. Sadly
the poster is too big to have found a home on any of my walls so far, but it's
still a nice addition. The story of the book is a combined Raven Guard and
Elysian Drop Troop attack on an Ork held planet, and it contains units for all
3 armies, and full army lists for the Elysians and Ork Dread Mobs. I enjoyed
reading through the book, which gives a lot of detail on what could be
considered a relatively minor action by the standards of battles in the 41st
millennium. I have only read the book once though, I haven't been captured by
the urge to pore over it relentlessly. I'm unlikely to get much use out of the
missions given to play out the campaign, as I don't have access to Raven Guard
or Elysian armies. I'm sure I could manage something if I were desperate to
play them, but it's not really a high priority.</p>
<p>I was pleased with the selection of Ork units in the book. There are several
vehicles I think could fit nicely into a Speed Freeks army, particularly as
Zhadsnark Da Rippa lets you take Warbikers as Troops choices. I like the extra
detail on various units, even if it does seem to contradict itself in places,
and I really wish Forge World made the variant Warbuggies shown in the
illustrations, as the existing model is looking very dated. There's a fair
amount of material on Dreads and Kans, which is understandable given that the
book is home to the Dread Mob list, but I doubt I'll get much use out of it
myself.</p>
<p>One thing that occurred to me after reading IA8 was that it invites
comparison with the Waaagh! Ghazghkull supplement. Weighing the two up against
each other really shows Waaagh! Ghazghkull in a poor light. Both of them have
background material and 8 missions, although IA8's missions are more tightly
linked and include a few more innovative features than Waaagh! Ghazghkull. IA8
is nearly three times as long, contains new units for three different armies,
and includes two whole army lists, where Waaagh! Ghazghkull has seven
formations and one detachment, so no new units, just different ways to arrange
the existing ones. Given that I bought the Ghazghkull book in hardback (£30),
IA8 was cheaper too. Once I'd looked at it in those terms, I was significantly
less pleased with the Ghazghkull supplement. Given the lack of supplements
accompanying the more recent codex releases, I suspect I'm not the only one
questioning the value of those books.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/10/Imperial-Armour-8%3A-Raid-on-Kastorel-Novem#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/10/Imperial-Armour-8%3A-Raid-on-Kastorel-Novem#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/828106The Challengehttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/09/The-Challenge
urn:md5:6d73633e400cf2791931afbb0310393eSun, 09 Aug 2015 23:18:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="https://lostonfenris.wordpress.com/">LoF's</a> 30th birthday is
coming up in a couple of months and we've decided to take a trip up to
Warhammer World to celebrate. The plan is that we will each take a 1000 point
army and play a game or two on the tables there. We're both using this as a way
to push ourselves to get models finished, she's working on her Exodites and I'm
(of course) doing my Orks. This means I've got a serious amount of work to do,
especially as it has taken me a year to get 400 points worth painted so
far.</p>
<p>I've planned out a 1000 point list so that I know how much I've got to get
done. On top of what I've already got done, I need to paint:</p>
<ul>
<li>The third Boyz squad, including Nob and Trukk</li>
<li>A 5 model Nobz squad, with Trukk</li>
<li>3 Warbikers</li>
<li>5 Lootas</li>
</ul>
<p>Fortunately, I already own all the models for this list, except for the
Trukk for the Nobz squad. Getting all of these painted in the next two months
will be a major increase in my previous rate of painting, I'm trying for this
goal as a bit of a sink or swim approach. I've been barely getting any painting
done for months, and I've previously found that having a game to aim for has
been a good way of making sure I get models painted. The problem with using
games as hard deadlines, and the reason I've avoided it so far with my Orks, is
that I tend to end up compromising on the quality of the painting in order to
get everything done to a bare minimum standard. Given that a major part of
working on my Orks is trying to improve my painting, I don't want to end up
just throwing paint at models just so I've got something to put on the
table.</p>
<p>I'm trying to make sure that I get everything I want painted in time and to
a decent standard. I've been working on the third Boyz squad over the last
couple of days, and I've been making good progress. I've taken a leaf out of a
friend's book and booked the next week off work, and I plan to spend a good
amount of it hobbying. I'm also going to try to get some more blog posts up,
you may have noticed I've been working on that recently too.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/09/The-Challenge#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/09/The-Challenge#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/827998Year (and a bit) in reviewhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/08/Year-%28and-a-bit%29-in-review
urn:md5:e15f48d0b63a677c05441d38247db2c7Sat, 08 Aug 2015 23:48:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p>The first anniversary of this blog slipped by without any sort of
recognition. Once again, I'd completely fallen out of the habit of regular
painting, to the extent that I didn't do any at all for well over two months.
I'm trying to get back into it now, and I thought I'd look back over my
progress since I started posting here.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/14/A-%28minimal%29-CAD">my last
post</a>, I showed a group picture of everything that I've managed to get
painted since I started (plus <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/07/08/The-Painted-Man">one model</a>
that was already done beforehand). It isn't a particularly large number of
models, but it is significant progress compared to how the army had come on
before I started blogging. I think I managed one model in the space of about
two years, so I was working from quite a low baseline.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/07/09/The-Unpainted-Horde">one of the
early posts</a>, I wrote about two separate ways in which I'm not good at
painting: applying paint to the models; and applying myself to painting. In the
last year and a bit, I have been genuinely pleased at the progress in my
painting (the applying paint bit that is). There's a clear difference between
the quality of the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/08/07/Squad-complete">first</a> and
<a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/10/26/Second-squad-complete">second</a>
squads of boyz, and <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/10/The-Warboss">the Warboss</a>
definitely shows how I've improved. I remain bad at applying myself to getting
painting done however, I fear improving that skill will be more difficult than
learning how to paint better.</p>
<p>Writing this blog has definitely helped me to paint more, there is a sense
of achievement when I finish a model or squad and post about it, and a
corresponding sense of failure when I don't manage either of those things. For
the next year, I'm aiming to do more. More improvement in my painting and more
painted models. I do have a slightly more detailed plan than that, at least for
the next few months, but I'm saving that for tomorrow's post <img src="/themes/default/smilies/smile.png" alt=":)" class="smiley" /></p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/08/Year-%28and-a-bit%29-in-review#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/08/08/Year-%28and-a-bit%29-in-review#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/827935A (minimal) CADhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/14/A-%28minimal%29-CAD
urn:md5:db86199aba0df3bfc32b2d7ae54872d2Thu, 14 May 2015 22:37:00 +0100Da BossOrks <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Full_CAD.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Full_CAD_s.jpg" alt="Full_CAD.JPG" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="Full_CAD.JPG, May 2015" /></a>Now that I've finished the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/10/The-Warboss">Warboss</a>, I've
finally got a fully painted set of the bare minimum requirement for a combined
arms detachment. Including the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/11/29/Return-of-the-Mek">Mek</a> means
it's actually just slightly more than the bare minimum, but as he doesn't take
a force org slot it's not a big difference. It also nicely fills the transport
capacity of the two Trukks, so all of my Speed Freeks have a way to get around
<img src="/themes/default/smilies/smile.png" alt=":)" class="smiley" /></p>
<p>Adding up the whole list, including gear that's clearly on the model (e.g.
Power Klaws), but nothing else, it comes to 400 points worth of army. That
feels quite low given the amount of time its taken to get this far. The
majority of the painting has been Boyz though, which give a low return in terms
of points per model painted. As I move on to other units the points should
begin to tot up a bit faster. Of course, there's also the eternal hope that
I'll manage to get into a good painting rhythm and start getting units done
that much faster. Lining the whole army up to take the picture for this post
did show me that my painting has definitely improved as I've been going, the
<a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/10/26/Second-squad-complete">second
squad of Boyz</a> (on the right of the picture as you look at it) is a definite
improvement on the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/08/07/Squad-complete">first</a> (on
the left).</p>
<p>My intention with this army is to try to be as Orky as possible, so I want
to run the Ork detachments where possible. The next bit of painting will be
another Boyz squad, so that I've got the bare minimum for the Ork Horde
detachment. After that, I'll finally have a bit of a change and go for a Nobz
squad, to meet the requirements for the Great Waaagh! Detachment. Once those
are done (however long that may take me), I'll start in on some of the Fast
Attack and Heavy Support choices.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/14/A-%28minimal%29-CAD#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/14/A-%28minimal%29-CAD#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/820159The Warbosshttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/10/The-Warboss
urn:md5:c0528a29aa727324e768df713efe042cSun, 10 May 2015 21:27:00 +0100Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Warboss_complete.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Warboss_complete_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" title=" , May 2015" /></a>After a very long
break, I've finally got enough time and motivation together to get some
painting done. I actually started work on the Warboss in March, then there was
a month long break before I picked it up again in April. I managed a few
sessions in April, before I ended up having another break for a couple of weeks
and then getting the rest of it done over the last week or two. My original
intention while painting this model was to keep track of how long I spent doing
each part and see how long it took me to get the model done. That fell off
after the start, but I've got enough to at least make an estimate. I think it
took me 12 to 15 hours to get this one model done. I think that's fair enough
for a character, although I'd prefer not to take that long on normal
rank-and-file guys. I'm not sure where I can reduce the amount of time taken
and still get results I'm happy with though.</p>
<p>I'm very happy with how this model came out. The red highlighting I started
using on <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/11/29/Return-of-the-Mek">the Mek</a>
worked very well once again. I decided to try a couple of things I hadn't
attempted before while I was painting the Warboss, as he is an important
character. I was inspired by the article on basing in White Dwarf 56, so I
added a few rocks and some static grass to his base. I did those before I put
the textured paint on, which meant I lost some of the grass in the paint, but
there's still plenty left. I also painted the edge of the base with Eshin Grey
to try to get it looking a bit darker than the rest. That didn't come out quite
as strongly as I hoped, but I may try mixing a darker colour for future
efforts. I tried some of the Blood for the Blood God technical paint on the
power klaw, which gave a good effect, but I think will take some more practice
until I'm really happy with it.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/10/The-Warboss#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/05/10/The-Warboss#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/819513Second Trukk finishedhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/02/21/Second-Trukk-finished
urn:md5:b22d5f89e9ad938ab25068418dcdec3dSat, 21 Feb 2015 22:02:00 +0000Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Trukk2_complete.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Trukk2_complete_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title=" , Feb 2015" /></a>After several
delays, I've finally finished the second trukk. It ended up taking longer than
I wanted, for various reasons, particularly double XP on <a href="http://www.swtor.com">Star Wars</a>. I'm pleased with the final result, it's
come out largely how I intended. Like <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/08/20/Trukk-built-and-mostly-painted">last
time</a> I had some trouble assembling the model, particularly getting the
driver to fit in the space between the cab and the rear wall. I managed to
squeeze him in eventually, but I'll try to remember to plan it more carefully
for the next one.</p>
<p>I'm away for work for the next few days so I won't be getting any hobbying
done until I get back. Next on my list is the Assault on Black Reach Warboss.
I've got the two troop units painted, so adding a HQ model gives me a (very
minimal) combined arms detachment. I suppose I could use the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/11/29/Return-of-the-Mek">Mek</a> and
say I'm already there, but somehow it doesn't feel like a proper Ork army to me
without a Warboss.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/02/21/Second-Trukk-finished#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/02/21/Second-Trukk-finished#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/811512Nob finishedhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/01/27/Nob-finished
urn:md5:dd52f36318f4705f020e9211ca7d4845Tue, 27 Jan 2015 22:51:00 +0000Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Squad2NobComplete.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Squad2NobComplete_s.jpg" alt=" " style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" title=" , Jan 2015" /></a>Well it took me
two days over the deadline, but I've finally finished the Nob for the second
squad of Boyz. I was really annoyed with myself, as I ended up putting the
painting off all of last week, resulting in a desperate rush on Sunday night.
Once I admitted it wasn't going to get done then, I had hoped to finish him off
on Monday, but I had to admit that with the highlighting left to do at the end
of the evening it would have to wait. I'm glad I took the time to do him
properly, as there is a temptation to skimp on the painting effort just so I
can declare something finished. The model has come out quite well, although I
haven't really tried any new techniques with this one. The photo isn't very
good though, I was in a rush and had to choose between one that looked very
washed out from the flash or one that was too dark and a bit yellow from not
using the flash.</p>
<p>This week I'll start work on the Trukk for the Boyz squad. <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/08/23/Trukk-finished">Last time</a> it
took me just over two weeks to do one of these, so hopefully this time I can
manage it a bit faster. I aim to have the model completed by next Sunday, so
I've got a week and a half.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/01/27/Nob-finished#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/01/27/Nob-finished#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/808867Getting back on the horsehttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/01/18/Getting-back-on-the-horse
urn:md5:ed50824c5cd5e1a8b0f3a09268e6d02fSun, 18 Jan 2015 22:10:00 +0000Da BossPainting <p>Well, after a nice long break I think it's time to pick it up and carry on.
I've made absolutely no hobby progress since my last post, it's been very easy
to just let everything slide. It's tempting to declare a (somewhat belated) New
Year's resolution to get more painting done this year, but I generally try to
avoid declaring big changes like that. In my experience they tend to turn into
mechanisms for producing guilt when they inevitably get disrupted. I prefer the
idea of making small, gradual improvements over time to achieve a more lasting
change. Sadly the evidence is that I'm not too good at that either <img src="/themes/default/smilies/smile.png" alt=":)" class="smiley" /></p>
<p>The goal for this week then is to finally finish the Nob for the second
squad of Boyz. He's been sat half-painted on my desk for ages and should serve
as a good way to warm back up to painting.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/01/18/Getting-back-on-the-horse#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2015/01/18/Getting-back-on-the-horse#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/807991Fighting with ithttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/12/15/Fighting-with-it
urn:md5:078c2be762bed705f59620359925649dMon, 15 Dec 2014 21:48:00 +0000Da Boss <p>If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed my hobby progress
slowing to a bare minimum recently. I managed a little painting this week, a
few of the base layers on the Nob for the second squad, but nothing very
impressive. I have a bit of a dilemma in that I don't want to force myself to
paint when I'm not in the mood as it sucks all the fun out of it, but I know
that if I tell myself to only paint when I feel like it I won't get anything
done. I've decided that this week (and very probably next week) I'm not going
to push myself to paint and hopefully the break from having it hanging over me
will help get some of my energy back. If the mood strikes me I'll get some
done, but if not I'll try not to get too annoyed about it.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I hope to have some additional blog content for you. I
realised yesterday that while I haven't been making much painting progress
there are a couple of other things I could easily write posts about. Increasing
the rate of blog posting should salve my conscience a bit for slacking off the
painting.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/12/15/Fighting-with-it#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/12/15/Fighting-with-it#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/804696Progress? Nob allhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/12/07/Progress-Nob-all
urn:md5:e8ae3b7d4873709051f5fb3e93bc1a30Sun, 07 Dec 2014 22:34:00 +0000Da BossOrks <p>This week my total progress has been to assemble and undercoat a Nob. I was
away for three days for work, and then spent the whole weekend driving around
the country picking up various bits that got left behind in the first stage of
the move. On the plus side, our flat is now connected to the internet so
posting should be easier. I'm not aware of being sent anywhere for work this
week, hopefully I can get back to painting.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/12/07/Progress-Nob-all#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/12/07/Progress-Nob-all#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/803959Return of the Mekhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/11/29/Return-of-the-Mek
urn:md5:14eff82cc6c558ecc5cbbff5015f672bSat, 29 Nov 2014 16:31:00 +0000Da BossOrksPainting <p><a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/Mek_complete.JPG"><img src="http://www.redsquigracing.com/public/.Mek_complete_s.jpg" alt="" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title=", Nov 2014" /></a>This
is either an extremely late update for last Sunday or an early one for
tomorrow, depending on your philosophical outlook. After an array of different
disruptions I've managed to get the Mek finished. I'm quite pleased with the
result, even if it did take me ages to get there.</p>
<p>I experimented a bit while painting on this model. I wasn't happy with the
way the yellow was coming out on previous models, and while the <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/10/02/Yellow-on-white%2C-two-ways">glaze
and shade method</a> gave reasonable results, I wanted to try something else
for large flat areas of yellow. The yellow parts of the Mek were done by
doubling up on the base layer, which provides a much more solid foundation for
the other layers. I think the effect is good, and this approach seems more
appropriate for the parts of a model that don't have a lot of detail.</p>
<p>I also changed the way I painted the red parts of the Mek. I've written
about the problems I had <a href="http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/10/19/Red-%E2%80%93-Shade-or-Glaze">highlighting
red</a>, so I tried putting a layer of Evil Sunz Scarlet on top of the
Mephiston Red base layer. I then highlighted it using Wild Rider Red. This gave
me a brighter red overall, with a highlight that is visible but that doesn't
have the overly orange feel of using Wild Rider Red straight on Mephiston Red.
It's going to mean more work to get models painted from here on in, but I think
the improved effect is worth the effort.</p>
<p>Moving on, I'm going to start painting up a Nob to accompany the second
squad of Boyz. I hope that he'll take a lot less time than the Mek, as I won't
be moving house part-way through this one. I don't imagine that I'll have him
completed within a week though, as I've got to be away for a few days for work
again.</p>http://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/11/29/Return-of-the-Mek#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/post/2014/11/29/Return-of-the-Mek#comment-formhttp://www.redsquigracing.com/feed/atom/comments/803154